From the BBC:
“COP26: Minister in wheelchair
unable to attend summit”
(Karine Elharrar, left, said she
could not access the conference grounds on Monday.)
An Israeli minister has said she
could not attend the COP26 summit on Monday because it was not wheelchair
accessible. Karine Elharrar tweeted that it was "sad" the UN
"does not provide accessibility to its events". An official in
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's delegation said they had formally
complained to organisers. Mr Bennett said he would not attend on Tuesday if Ms
Elharrar could not access the summit, the official added. UK ambassador to
Israel Neil Wigan tweeted that he had apologised "deeply and
sincerely" to the minister. "We want a COP Summit that is welcoming
and inclusive to everyone," he wrote.
Ms Elharrar reportedly told
Israel's Channel 12 that she could not get onto the grounds of the conference
because the only options were to either walk or take a shuttle that was not
suitable for a wheelchair. Her office told the Times of Israel she waited
outside the venue in Glasgow for two hours, and she was eventually forced to return
to her hotel in the Scottish capital Edinburgh 80km (50 miles) away. James
Cleverly, a UK foreign office minister, said he was "deeply disappointed
and frustrated" Ms Elharrar could not access the summit. "The COP
venue is designed to be accessible for all. I have spoken to the Minister about
this and I look forward to meeting her tomorrow," he tweeted. An official
in the Israeli PM's delegation said Mr Bennett had told UK Prime Minister Boris
Johnson about the incident, and Mr Johnson had invited Ms Elharrar to join a
meeting between the two prime ministers on Tuesday.
^ People who expect any real
concrete climate change from this Summit shouldn't. The organizers couldn't
even make it accessible to the Disabled. It is already an epic failure. ^
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